Techniques to compose memory resources across devices

ABSTRACT

Examples are disclosed for composing memory resources across devices. In some examples, memory resources associated with executing one or more applications by circuitry at two separate devices may be composed across the two devices. The circuitry may be capable of executing the one or more applications using a two-level memory (2LM) architecture including a near memory and a far memory. In some examples, the near memory may include near memories separately located at the two devices and a far memory located at one of the two devices. The far memory may be used to migrate one or more copies of memory content between the separately located near memories in a manner transparent to an operating system for the first device or the second device. Other examples are described and claimed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Examples described herein are generally related to aggregating resourcesacross computing devices.

BACKGROUND

Computing devices in various form factors are being developed thatinclude increasing amounts of computing power, networking capabilitiesand memory/storage capacities. Some form factors attempt to be smalland/or light enough to actually be worn by a user. For example, eyewear,wrist bands, necklaces or other types of wearable form factors are beingconsidered as possible form factors for computing devices. Additionally,mobile form factors such as smart phones or tablets have greatlyincreased computing and networking capabilities and their use has grownexponentially over recent years.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a first system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a second system.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a third system.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example state machine.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a first process.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a second process.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example logic flow for memory checkpointing

FIG. 8 illustrates an example block diagram for a first apparatus.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a first logic flow.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a first storage medium.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example block diagram for a second apparatus.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a second logic flow.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a second storage medium.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Examples are generally directed to improvements for aggregating compute,memory and input/output (I/O) resources across devices. Aggregationacross devices such as computing devices may be influenced by possiblyutilizing multiple computing devices that may each have differentfunctionality and/or capabilities. For example, some computing devicesmay be small enough for a user to actually wear the computing device.Other types of small form factor computing devices may include smartphones or tablets where size/weight and a long battery life aredesirable traits for users of these devices. Hence, wearable, smartphone or tablet computing devices may each be relatively light weightand may use low amounts of power to extend battery life. Yet users mayexpect greater computational capabilities that may not be possible inthese small form factors.

Other types of computing devices may be somewhat stationary and maytherefore have a larger form factor that is powered by a fixed powersource or a comparatively larger battery compared to wearable, smartphone or tablet computing devices. These other computing devices mayinclude desktop computers, laptops, or all-in-one computers having anintegrated, large format (e.g., greater than 15 inches) display. Thelarge form factor of these other devices and the use of a fixed powersource (e.g., via a power outlet) or a large battery power source mayallow for considerably more computing, memory or I/O resources to beincluded with or attached to these form factors. In particular, a higherthermal capacity associated with a larger form factor along withpossible use of active cooling (e.g., via one or more fans) may allowfor the considerably more computing, memory or I/O resources as comparedto smaller form factors.

In contrast, wearable, smart phone or tablet computing devices, asmentioned are in relatively small form factors that depend on batterypower and likely do not have active cooling capabilities. Also, powercircuitry and use of a battery may reduce current-carrying capacity ofthese types of devices. A reduced current-carrying capacity may restricttypes of potentially powerful computing resources from being implementedin these smaller form factors. Further, higher costs and/or spaceconstraints may result in relatively low amounts of some types of memoryresources such as double data rate synchronous dynamic random-accessmemory (DDR SRAM) memory.

Aggregation of memory resources across computing devices havingdifferent memory capabilities may be a desirable objective. Currentattempts to aggregate memory resources across computing devices haverelied primarily on software implementations. These types of softwareimplementations usually result in high latencies and degraded userexperience. For example, user-perceptible delays associated withsoftware implementations may result when streaming high-definition videoor gaming information between aggregating devices such as a smart phoneand an all-in-one computer. The user-perceptible delays may result in achoppy or stalled video as memory resources are aggregated between thedevices. Thus a seamless aggregation of memory resources across multiplecomputing devices may be problematic when relying primarily on softwareimplementations for the aggregation. It is with respect to these andother challenges that the examples described herein are needed.

According to some examples, example first methods may be implemented ata first device (source device) having a first circuitry, e.g.,processing element(s) and/or graphic engine(s). For these examples, thefirst circuitry may be capable of executing one or more applicationsusing a two-level memory (2LM) architecture or scheme that includes afirst near and a second far memory. For these examples, a second device(target device) having second circuitry may be detected. The secondcircuitry may be capable of executing the one or more applications usingthe 2LM architecture that also includes a second near memory. Logicand/or features at the source device may cause the source device toconnect to the target device, e.g., via a wired or a wirelessinterconnect. The logic and/or features may utilize the first far memoryto migrate a copy of memory contents from the first near memory to thesecond near memory. According to these first example methods,utilization of the first far memory to migrate the copy of memorycontents to the second near memory may enable the logic and/or featuresto migrate the memory contents in a manner that is transparent to anoperating system (OS) for the source device or the target device.

In some other examples, example second methods may be implemented at afirst device (target device) having a first circuitry capable ofexecuting one or more applications using a 2LM architecture having afirst near and a first far memory. For these example second methods, asecond device (source device) having second circuitry capable ofexecuting the one or more applications using the 2LM architecture thatalso includes a second near memory at the source device may be detectedas being connected to the target device. Logic and/or features at thetarget device may be capable of receiving, from the first far memory, acopy of memory contents from the second near memory. The memory contentsmay have been used by the second circuitry to execute the one or moreapplications. The logic and/or features may store the copy of memorycontents to the first near memory in a manner transparent to an OS forthe target or the source device. The memory contents stored to the firstnear memory may be then be used by the first circuitry to execute theone or more applications.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example first system. In some examples, theexample first system includes system 100. System 100, as shown in FIG.1, includes a device 105 and a device 155. According to some examples,devices 105 and 155 may represent two examples of different form factorsfor computing devices. As described more below, device 105 may be asmaller form factor that may operate primarily off battery power whiledevice 155 may be a relatively larger form factor that may operateprimarily off a fixed power source such as an alternating current (A/C)received via a power outlet associated, for example, with powerpurchased from a power utility.

In some examples, device 105 is shown in FIG. 1 as observed from a frontside that may correspond to a side of device 105 that includes atouchscreen/display 110 that may present a view of executingapplication(s) 144(a) to a user of device 105. Similarly, device 155 isshown in FIG. 1 as observed from a front side that includes atouchscreen/display 150 that may present a view of executing application144(b) to a user of device 155. Although, in some examples, a displaymay also exist on back side of device 105 or device 155, for ease ofexplanation, FIG. 1 does not include a back side display for eitherdevice.

According to some examples, the front side views of devices 105 and 155include elements/features that may be at least partially visible to auser when viewing these devices from a front view. Also, someelements/features may not be visible to the user when viewing devices105 or 155 from a front side view. For these examples, solid-lined boxesmay represent those features that may be at least partially visible anddashed-line boxes may represent those element/features that may not bevisible to the user (e.g., underneath a skin or cover). For example,transceiver/communication (comm) interfaces 102 and 180 may not bevisible to the user, yet at least a portion of camera(s) 104, audiospeaker(s) 106, input button(s) 108, microphone(s) 109 ortouchscreen/display 110 may be visible to the user.

According to some examples, as shown in FIG. 1, a comm link 107 maywirelessly couple device 100 via network interface 103. For theseexamples, network interface 103 may be configured and/or capable ofoperating in compliance with one or more wireless communicationstandards to establish a network connection with a network (not shown)via comm link 107.

The network connection may enable device 105 to receive/transmit dataand/or enable voice communications through the network.

In some examples, various elements/features of device 105 may be capableof providing sensor information associated with detected input commands(e.g., user gestures or audio command) For example, touch screen/display110 may detect touch gestures. Camera(s) 104 may detect spatial/airgestures or pattern/object recognition. Microphone(s) 109 may detectaudio commands In some examples, a detected input command may be toaffect executing application 144(a) and may be interpreted as a naturalUI input event. Although not shown in FIG. 1 a physical keyboard orkeypad may also receive input command that may affect executingapplication(s) 144(a).

According to some examples, as shown in FIG. 1, device 105 may includecircuitry 120, a battery 130, a memory 140 and a storage 145. Circuitry120 may include one or more processing elements and graphic enginescapable of executing App(s) 144 at least temporarily maintained inmemory 140. Also, circuitry 120 may be capable of executing operatingsystem (OS) 142 which may also be at least temporarily maintained inmemory 140.

In some examples, as shown in FIG. 1, device 155 may include circuitry160, storage 175, memory 170 and transceiver/comm interface 180. Device155 may also include fan(s) 165 which may provide active cooling tocomponents of device 155. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, device 155 mayinclude integrated components 182. Integrated components 182 may includevarious I/O devices such as, but not limited to, cameras, microphones,speakers or sensors that may be integrated with device 155.

According to some examples, as shown in FIG. 1, device 155 may becoupled to a power outlet 195 via a cord 194. For these examples, device155 may receive a fixed source of power (e.g., A/C power) via thecoupling to power outlet 195 via cord 194.

In some examples, as shown in FIG. 1, device 155 may couple toperipheral(s) 185 via comm link 184. For these examples, peripheral(s)185 may include, but are not limited to, monitors, displays, externalstorage devices, speakers, microphones, game controllers, cameras, I/Oinput devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball or stylus.

According to some examples, logic and/or features of device 105 may becapable of detecting device 155. For example, transceiver/comminterfaces 102 and 180 may each include wired and/or wireless interfacesthat may enable device 105 to establish a wired/wireless communicationchannel to connect with device 155 via interconnect 101. In someexamples, device 105 may physically connect to a wired interface (e.g.,in docking station or a dongle) coupled to device 155. In otherexamples, device 105 may come within a given physical proximity that mayenable device 105 to establish a wireless connection such as a wirelessdocking with device 155. Responsive to the wired or wireless connection,information may be exchanged that may enable device 105 to detect device155 and also to determine at least some capabilities of device 155 suchas circuitry available for executing App(s) 144.

In some examples wired and/or wireless interfaces included intransceiver/comm interfaces 102 and 180 may operate in compliance withone or more low latency, high bandwidth and efficient interconnecttechnologies. Wired interconnect technologies may include, but are notlimited to, those associated with industry standards or specifications(including progenies or variants) to include the Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI) Express Base Specification, revision 3.0, publishedin November 2010 (“PCI Express” or “PCIe”) or interconnects similar toIntel® QuickPath Interconnect (“QPI”). Wireless interconnecttechnologies may include, but are not limited to, those associated withWiGig™ and/or Wi-Fi™ and may include establishing and/or maintainingwireless communication channels through various frequency bands toinclude Wi-Fi and/or WiGig frequency bands, e.g., 2.4, 5 or 60 GHz.These types of wireless interconnect technologies may be described invarious standards promulgated by the Institute of Electrical andElectronic Engineers (IEEE). These standards may include Ethernetwireless standards (including progenies and variants) associated withthe IEEE Standard for Information technology—Telecommunications andinformation exchange between systems—Local and metropolitan areanetworks—Specific requirements Part 11: WLAN Media Access Controller(MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications, published March 2012,and/or later versions of this standard (“IEEE 802.11”). One suchstandard related to WiFi and WiGig and also to wireless docking is IEEE802.11ad.

According to some examples, circuitry 160 may include one or moreprocessing elements and graphics engines capable of executing OS 142which may also be at temporarily maintained at memory 170. Circuitry 160may also be capable of executing App(s) 144 also at least temporarilymaintained at memory 170. In some examples, context information andmemory content associated with executing applications such as App(s) 144or OS 142 may be sent from logic and/or features of device 105 viainterconnect 101. The context information and memory content may enablecircuitry 160 to take over or resume execution of App(s) 144 and/or OS142 from circuitry 120. The context information may be flushed from oneor more caches (e.g., processor cache(s)) used by circuitry 120 toexecute App(s) 144 and/or OS 142. Memory content included in memory 140(e.g., a near memory) as well as the flushed context information maythen be sent to a second near memory at device 155 (e.g., included inmemory 170). The second near memory now having the flushed contextinformation and the memory content may enable circuitry 160 to executeApp(s) 144 which may result in a presentation of that execution ondisplay 150 as executing application 144(b).

In some examples, App(s) 144 may include types of applications that auser of device 105 may desire to utilize increased computing, memory orI/O resources available at device 155. For example, due to activecooling, a fixed power source and a larger form factor, circuitry 160may include a significantly higher amount of computing power and/ormemory resources than circuitry 120. In terms of higher computing powerthis may be due, at least in part, to a higher thermal capacity fordissipating heat from circuitry 160 via use of fan(s) 165 and also togreater surface areas to dissipate heat via passive means such as largeheat sinks or heat pipes. Thus, circuitry 160 can operate within asignificantly higher thermal range. Also, in terms of higher memoryresources, a large form factor may allow for additional memory modules.Further, receiving power via power outlet 195 may allow device 155 toprovide a significantly higher current-carry capacity to circuitry 160and/or memory 170. A higher current-carrying capacity may enablecircuitry 160 and/or memory 170 to more quickly respond to rapid burstsof computing demand that may be common with some types of applicationssuch as interactive gaming or video editing.

App(s) 144 may also include types of applications such as highdefinition streaming video applications (e.g., having at least 4Kresolution) to be presented on larger displays such as displays having avertical display distance of 15 inches or more. For example, circuitry120 may be adequate for presenting high definition video on a relativelysmall touchscreen/display 110 but a larger touchscreen/display 150 mayexceed the capability of circuitry 120 and/or the thermal capacity ofdevice 105. Thus, circuitry 160 may be utilized to execute these typesof applications to present the high definition streaming to the largertouchscreen/display 150 or to an even larger display possibly includedin peripheral(s) 185.

App(s) 144 may also include a touch screen application capable of beingused on large or small displays. For example, the touch screenapplication may be executed by circuitry 160 to present larger sizedand/or higher resolution touch screen images to touchscreen/display 150.Also, the touch screen application may be able to mirror touch screenimages on multiple screens. For example, a portion of the touch screenapplication may be implemented by circuitry 120 to present executingapplication 144(a) to touchscreen/display 110 and another portion may beimplemented by circuitry 160 to present executing application 144(b) totouchscreen/display 150. For this example, coherency information may beexchanged between circuitry 120 and circuitries 160 via interconnect 101to enable the joint execution of the touch screen application.

According to some examples, logic and/or features at device 105 may becapable of migrating one or more copies of memory contents included inmemory 140 to memory 170. Once a copy of memory contents is migrated tomemory 170, circuitry 160 may use the copy of memory contents to executeApp(s) 144. For these examples, the one or more copies of memorycontents may be migrated in a manner that is transparent to at least OS142 executed by circuitry at either device 105 or device 155. Asdescribed more below, use of a two-level memory (2LM) architecture orscheme may allow for this type of information exchange that istransparent to an operating system such as OS 142 and/or App(s) 144.Also, as described more below, the 2LM architecture may include nearmemories separately maintained at two devices and a far memorymaintained at one of the two devices. The two near memories and the onefar memory may be composed so that an OS such as OS 142 or anapplication such as App(s) 144 may not be aware of which device isactually executing the OS or application. As a result, migration of theone or more copies of memory content between the separately maintainednear memories may be transparent to the OS or application.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example second system. In some examples, theexample second system includes system 200. System 200 as shown in FIG. 2includes various components of a device 205 and a device 255. Accordingto some examples, components of device 205 may be coupled to componentsof device 255 via an interconnect 201. Similar to device 105 and 155mentioned above for FIG. 1, interconnect 201 may be established viawired or wireless communication channels through wired and/or wirelessinterfaces operating in compliance with various interconnecttechnologies and/or standards. As a result, interconnect 201 mayrepresent a low latency, high bandwidth and efficient interconnect toallow for computing, memory or I/O resources to be aggregated orcomposed between at least some components of devices 205 and 255.

In some examples, as shown in FIG. 2, device 205 may have circuitry 220that includes processing element(s) 222 and graphic engine(s) 224. Theseelements of circuitry 220 may be capable of executing one or moreapplications similar to App(s) 144 mentioned above for FIG. 1. Also,device 255 may have circuitry 260 that includes processing element(s)262 and graphic engine(s) 264. The relative sizes of the elements ofcircuitry 220 or near memory 240 as depicted in FIG. 2 compared tocircuitry 260 or near memory 270 may represent increased computationalabilities or memory resources for device 255 compared to device 205.These increased computation abilities or memory resources may beattributed, at least in part, to the various examples given above fordevice 155 when compared to device 105 (e.g., fixed power source, higherthermal capacity, high current-carrying capacity, larger form factor,etc.).

According to some examples, in addition to a low latency, high bandwidthand efficient interconnect, a 2LM architecture may be implemented atdevice 205 and device 255 to facilitate a quick and efficient exchangeof context information and memory contents for an application beingexecuted by circuitry 220 to be switched and then executed by circuitry260 in a somewhat seamless manner (e.g., occurs in a fraction of asecond). For example, near memory 240 at device 205 may include lowlatency/higher performance types of memory such as DDR SRAM. Also nearmemory 270 at device 255 may include similar types of memory. As part ofthe 2LM architecture, far memory 245 may include higher latency/lowerperformance types of memory such as, but not limited to, one or more of3-D cross-point memory, NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory,ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, polymer memory such as ferroelectric polymer memory,ferroelectric transistor random access memory (FeTRAM) or FeRAM) orovonic memory. According to some examples, an OS for device 205 or 255and the application to be executed by either circuitry 220 or 260 mayrecognize far memory 245 as system memory and near memories 240 and 270may serve as caches to far memory 245 for use by circuitry 220 and 260when executing the application.

In some examples, following establishment of interconnect 201, logicand/or features of device 205 may determine that an application beingexecuted by circuitry 220 can be executed by circuitry 260 at device255. For these examples, the logic and/or features of device 205 maymigrate a copy of memory content used for executing the application fromnear memory 240 to near memory 270 via interconnect 201. Once the copyof memory content is migrated to near memory 240 the memory content maybe used by circuitry 260 to resume execution of the application.

According to some examples, logic and/or features at device 205 may thenroute I/O information associated with circuitry 260 now executing theapplication. For these examples, the at least portion of far memory 245serving as part of the 2LM architecture for device 205 may facilitatethis routing of I/O information such that an OS for device 205 and/ordevice 255 may not be aware of which near memory at device 205 or device255 is being used. As a result, the routing of the I/O informationbetween device 205 and device 255 may be done in manner that istransparent to the OS for device 205 and/or device 255.

In some examples, the 2LM architecture implemented at both device 205and device 255 may enable device 205 to use substantially less power bynot having to maintain operating power levels for near memory 240 once acopy of memory content is migrated to near memory 270. Additionally, farmemory 245 and near memory 270 may appear to an OS as the same 2LMarchitecture and thus may mask or make transparent the migration of thecopy of memory content and flushed context information between devices205 and 255. As such, the OS may not notice that the application hasmigrated for execution on circuitry existing on a separate device.Further, additional power may be saved by logic and/or features ofdevice 205 powering down circuitry 220 to a sleep or similar type oflower power state following the flushing of context information fromprocessor caches (not shown) used by circuitry 220 to execute theapplication.

Other components of device 205 may remain powered such a wireless comms240, I/O 210 and far memory 245. But these other components may use aconsiderably less amount of power and thus device 205 may conserve asignificant amount of battery power.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, in some examples, a far memory may also bemaintained at device 255. For these examples, the far memory at device255 may serve as a type of cache to compensate for potential latencyissues associated with interconnect 201. Also, the far memory at device255 may allow logic and/or features of device 255 to use both nearmemory 270 and the far memory at device 255 to support varying memoryaperture sizes to be configured during connection with device 205. Thus,near level memory 270 may be dynamically sized to match a capacity toreceive flushed context information from near level memory 240.

According to some examples, as shown in FIG. 2, wireless comms 240 maycouple to device 205. For these examples, wireless comms 240 may bemeans via which device 205 may serve as a tether for device 255 toeither a wireless network or another device. This may occur throughvarious type of wireless communication channels such as a Bluetooth™,WiFi, WiGig or a broadband wireless/4G wireless communication channelI/O information associated with execution of the application may bereceived via these types of wireless communication channels. Forexample, high definition video may be streamed through a 4G wirelesscommunication channel associated with a subscription or user account toaccess a 4G wireless network using device 205 but not device 255. Forthese examples, I/O 210 may be capable of receiving the streaming videoinformation through wireless comms 240 and at least temporarily storethe streaming video at far memory 245. Logic and/or features at device205 may then route this I/O information via interconnect 201 to nearmemory 270 for execution of a video display application by circuitry260. Logic and/or features at device 205 may then cause the highdefinition video to be presented to a display (not shown) coupled todevice 255 through I/O 250.

In some examples, logic and/or features of device 205 may receive anindication that the connection to device 255 via interconnect 201 is tobe terminated. For example, a user of device 255 and/or 205 may indicatevia an input command (e.g., detected via keyboard or natural UI inputevent) that device 205 is about to be physically disconnected from awired communication channel Alternatively, if interconnect 201 isthrough a wireless communication channel, logic and/or features ofdevice 205 may detect movement of device 205 in a manner that may resultin device 205 moving outside of a given physical proximity to device255. The given proximity may be a range which device 205 may maintain anadequate wireless communication channel to exchange information viainterconnect 201.

According to some examples, responsive to receiving the indication of apending termination of interconnect 201, logic and/or features of device205 may cause circuitry 220 and near memory 240 to power back up to anoperational power state. As mentioned above, these components of device205 may have been powered down following the migration of flushedcontext information and memory content to near memory 270. For theseexamples, logic and/or features of device 255 may cause contextinformation for executing an application at circuitry 260 to be flushedfrom cache(s) (not shown) and a second copy of memory content maintainedin near memory 270 to be sent to far memory 245 via interconnect 201.Once the flushed context information and the second copy of memorycontent is received at far memory 245, the flushed context informationand at least a portion of the second copy of memory content may bemigrated/stored to near memory 240. Circuitry 220 may then use theflushed context information and at least a portion of the second copy ofmemory content to resume execution of the application. In some examples,logic and/or features at device 255 may then power down circuitry 260and near memory 270 following the sending of the context information andthe second copy of memory content to far memory 245 via interconnect201.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example third system. In some examples, theexample third system includes system 300. System 300 as shown in FIG. 3includes various components of a device 305 and a device 355. Thevarious components are similar to the components mentioned above fordevice 205 and device 255 described above for system 200 in FIG. 2.Namely, Devices 305 and 355 have respective circuitry 320 and 360 thatinclude respective processing element(s) 322/362 and graphic(s) engines324/364. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, devices 305 and 355 may includeseparate near memories 330 and 370 and device 305 has a far memory 340.

According to some examples, as shown in FIG. 3, system 300 may include acomposable memory 310 having far memory 340 and near memory 370. Forthese examples, although not shown in FIG. 3, a low latency, highbandwidth, wireless or wired interconnect may couple device 305 todevice 355 to enable a far memory channel 344 to be established betweenfar memory 340 maintained at device 305 and near memory 370 maintainedat device 355.

As described in more detail below, composable memory 310 along with nearmemory 330 may be part of a 2LM architecture or scheme that facilitatesmigration of one or more copies of memory contents between near memory330 and near memory 370 in a manner that may be transparent to an OS fordevice 305 or 355. In other words, the OS may not be aware of whichdevice may be executing one or more applications as context informationand copies of memory contents associated with executing the one or moreapplications are migrated between near memory 330 used by circuitry 330to near memory 370 used by circuitry 360. The transparency may be basedon the 2LM architecture implemented in a way such that far memory 340may be presented to the OS as system main memory and near memories 330and 370 may serve as caches to far memory 340 for use by respectivecircuitry 320 and 360 when executing the one or more applications. As aresult, the OS may only be aware of far memory 340 and is unaware of themigration of context information and one or more copies of memorycontents between the two near memories.

In some examples, near memory 370 may include a first memory capacitythat is substantially larger than a second memory capacity for nearmemory 330. For example, near memory 320 may have a memory capacity ofless than a gigabyte and near memory 370 may have a memory capacity ofseveral gigabytes. The memory capacity differential may be due to alarger form factor size of device 355 and also due to greatercomputational resources included in circuitry 360 compared to circuitry320 that may lead to a higher need for more memory capacity to match thegreater computational resources. The examples are not limited to onlythese two reasons for possible memory capacity differences.

According to some examples, since circuitry 320 and circuitry 360 areboth capable of executing applications using a 2LM architecture, a sizedifferential between near memories 330 and 370 may be accommodated byensuring a memory capacity for far memory 340 is equal to or greaterthan the memory capacity of near memory 370. For these examples, farmemory 340 may be composed of types of non-volatile memory that may havelower access latencies but may use substantially less power and costsubstantially less per gigabyte of memory capacity compared to types ofmemory possibly used for near memories 330 or 370. The lower cost andless power usage may enable a substantially larger memory capacity forfar memory 340 compared to near memory 330.

In some examples, via use of a 2LM architecture, an OS for devices 305and 355 may be arranged to be executed by circuitry 320 or 360 based ona memory capacity associated with far memory 340 that is at least equalto a memory capacity for near memory 370. For these examples, migrationof execution of applications from device 305 to device 355 may befacilitated by the OS not having to resize/translate memory addressingstructures to account for potentially different memory capacitiesassociated with near memories 330 and 370. The memory addressing schemeused by an OS when executed by circuitry 320 may be designed such thatsignificantly larger near memories used by other circuitry such as nearmemory 370 used by circuitry 360 can better utilize large memorycapacities. For example, if the OS was to use only a memory addressingscheme associated with a memory capacity for near memory 330, thenbenefits of having a larger memory capacity at near memory 370 may bereduced by using the memory addressing scheme associated with the lowermemory capacity of near memory 330.

In some examples, an integrated memory controller (iMC) 376 located ator with circuitry 360 or an iMC 326 located at or with circuitry 320 mayuse various memory channels to facilitate movement of memory contentinformation associated with execution of one or more applications. Also,a memory controller (MC) at or with far memory 340 may provide requesteddata to iMC 376 or iMC 326 via the various memory channels, e.g.,responsive to page misses in respective near memories that may resultduring execution of the one or more applications.

In some examples, in addition to far memory channel 344 mentioned above,the various memory channels shown in FIG. 3 to retrieve, send, copy ormigrate memory content information may include near memory channel 372between circuitry 360 and near memory 370. The various memory channelsmay also include far memory channel between far memory 340 and nearmemory 330 or near memory channel 332 between circuitry 320 and nearmemory 330. As briefly mentioned above and described more below, logicand/or features at device 305 or device 355 may utilize a 2LMarchitecture to execute one or more applications such that memorycontent maintained at near memories 330 or 370 may be retrieved, sent,copied or migrated via these various memory channels in a manner thatmay be transparent to an OS for device 305 or device 355.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example state machine 400. In some examples, statemachine 400 depicts the various states of circuitry and near memory attwo devices and the movement of context information and copies of memorycontents between the devices. For these examples, elements of system 300that includes components shown and described above for FIG. 3 fordevices 305 and 355 are used to describe state machine 400. However, theexample state machine 400 is not limited to the components shown ordescribed above for FIG. 3.

In some examples, as shown in FIG. 4, device 305 may be in an executestate when a dock first occurs or is detected by logic and/or featuresat device 305. For these examples, circuitry 320 may be executing one ormore applications. Following detection of the dock, logic and/orfeatures at device 305 may cause context information associated withexecuting the one or more applications to be flushed from cache(s) usedby circuitry 320. The logic and/or features may then quiesce circuitry320. The logic and/or features may also migrate a first copy of memorycontents of near memory 330 to far memory 340 and then power down bothcircuitry 320 and near memory 330 to a low/non-operating power state(e.g., a sleep power state). The logic and/or features at device 305 maythen cause context information and the first copy of memory contents tobe further migrated to near memory 370 at device 355 via a memorychannel routed through an interconnect.

According to some examples, logic and/or features at device 355 may wakeup circuitry 260 and near memory 270 to a power up state that may be anoperating power state. The wake up may occur following detection of thedock. The logic and/or features may then store the received first copyof memory content and context information to near memory 270. Circuitry260 may now be in an execute state to execute the one or moreapplications previously executed by circuitry 320 at device 305.

In some examples, logic and/or features at device 355 may receive anindication that device 355 is about to undock from device 305. For theseexamples, the logic and/or features at device 355 may cause contextinformation associated with executing the one or more applications to beflushed from cache(s) used by circuitry 360. The logic and/or featuresmay then quiesce circuitry 360. The logic and/or features may alsomigrate a second copy of memory contents of near memory 370 to farmemory 340 and then power down both circuitry 360 and near memory 370 toa low/non-operating power state (e.g., a sleep state).

According to some examples, logic and/or features at device 305 may wakeup circuitry 320 and near memory 330 to a power up state that may be anoperating power state. The wake up may occur following an indicationthat device 305 is about to undock from device 355. The logic and/orfeatures may then transfer the second copy of the memory content andcontext information from far memory 340 to near memory 330. Circuitry320 may now be in an execute state to execute the one or moreapplications previously executed by circuitry 360 at device 355.

In some examples, the transition of the states shown in FIG. 4 for statemachine 400 may occur at rates that may be substantially imperceptibleto a user of device 305 or device 355. For example, less than a fractionof a second (e.g., 1/10^(th) of a second). As described more below,logic and/or features at both device 305 and 355 may be capable ofimplementing various policies to ensure a rapid migration of copies ofmemory contents between near memories 330 and 370 to enable execution ofone or more applications to be switched between circuitry 320 at device305 to circuitry 360 at device 355 and then back to circuitry 320 whenthe two devices undock in a substantially imperceptible manner asperceived by a user.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process 500. In some examples, process 500may be for aggregating or composing memory resources between devices.For these examples, elements of system 300 as shown in FIG. 3 may beused to illustrate example operations related to process 500. However,the example processes or operations are not limited to implementationsusing elements of system 300.

Beginning at process 5.0 (Execute Application(s)), circuitry 320 ofdevice 305 may be executing one or more applications. For example, theone or more applications may include a video streaming application topresent streaming video to a display at device 305.

Proceeding to process 5.1 (Detect Device), logic and/or features atdevice 305 may detect device 355 having circuitry 360 capable ofexecuting at least a portion of the one or more applications beingexecuted by device 355.

Proceeding to process 5.2 (Connect via Interconnect), logic and/orfeatures at device 305 may cause device 305 to connect to device 355 viaan interconnect. In some examples, the connection for the interconnectmay be via a wired communication channel. In other examples, theconnection for the interconnect may be via a wireless communicationchannel

Proceeding to process 5.3 (Flush Context Information, QuiesceCircuitry), logic and/or features at device 305 may cause contextinformation used to execute the at least portion of the one or moreapplications to be flushed from near memory 330. For example, videoframe information at least temporarily maintained in near memory 330 maybe flushed.

Proceeding to process 5.4 (Send Context Information, Copy of MemoryContents via Interconnect), logic and/or feature at device 305 may causethe flushed context information and a copy of memory contents of nearmemory 330 to be sent to device 355 via the wired/wireless interconnect.In some examples, the flushed context information and the copy of memorycontents may be first sent to far memory 340 prior to being sent todevice 355 via the wired/wireless interconnect.

Proceeding to process 5.5 (Power Down Circuitry, Near Memory), logicand/or features at device 305, following the sending of flushed contextinformation and the copy of memory contents may cause circuitry 320 andnear memory 330 to power down.

Proceeding to process 5.6 (Receive Context Information, Copy of MemoryContents to Near Memory), logic and/or features at device 355 mayreceive the context information and the copy of memory contents to nearmemory 370.

Proceeding to process 5.7 (Execute Application(s)), circuitry 360 mayexecute the one or more applications using the flushed contextinformation and copy of memory contents received/stored to near memory370. For example, video frame information for executing the videodisplay application may be used to present streaming video to a displaycoupled to device 355. The streaming video may be high definition video(e.g., at least 4K resolution) presented to a large size display (e.g.,greater than 15 inches).

Proceeding to process 5.8 (Send Dirty Page(s) based on Write-Back Policyor Memory Checkpointing), logic and/or features at device 355 mayimplement a write-back policy or memory checkpointing that cause one ormore dirty pages generated during execution of the one or moreapplications by circuitry 360 to be send to device 305. In someexamples, the write-back policy or memory checkpointing may beimplemented to minimize or reduce a number of dirty pages that wouldneed to be migrated back to device 305's near memory 330 upon anundocking. The write-back policy or memory checkpointing may include oneor more thresholds or time limits that once exceeded cause the sendingof dirty pages to far memory 340.

As a result of sending dirty pages on a periodic or threshold basis, anamount of memory contents transferred at time of undocking is reduced.This reduction in time may enable migration of the execution of the oneor more applications back to device 305 in a manner that may beimperceptible to a user of device 305.

In some examples, a write-back policy that includes a periodic sendingof dirty pages may be based on a time period that balances the need toquickly undock and migrate memory contents from near memory 370 to nearmemory 340 and attempting to conserve power. For example, thewired/wireless interconnect used to send/receive the dirty pages may usea substantial amount of power if the time period was short. Longer timeperiods would be more energy efficient, but if an undocking event occursshortly before a longer time period expires, the migration of the memorycontents may be delayed and a user may perceive this delay.

According to some examples, a write-back policy that includes sendingdirty pages on a threshold basis may include a first threshold numberbased on a memory capacity for near memory 330. For example, if nearmemory 330 has a relatively small memory capacity compared to nearmemory 370, the first threshold number of dirty pages should be lowenough that the smaller memory capacity of near memory 330 can receiveall of the dirty page without exceeding its memory capacity. The firstthreshold number may also be based on respective data bandwidth andlatencies for migrating a copy of memory contents between far memory 340and near memory 370 via a wired/wireless interconnect to ensure that themigration of memory contents allows circuitry 320 to resume execution ofthe one or more applications in a timely manner without perceptibleinterruptions. For these examples, the lower the data bandwidth and thehigher the latencies for migrating memory contents, the lower the firstthreshold number of dirty pages.

In some examples, the write-back policy may include a second thresholdnumber that may be associated with an undocking response time betweendetection of a user-initiated undocking until the time of the actualdecoupling or termination of the interconnect. For these examples, thesecond threshold may be based on a data bandwidth capability formigrating a second copy of memory contents between far memory 340 andnear memory 370 via the wired/wireless interconnect. The secondthreshold may also be based on a time limit associated withdisconnecting device 355 from device 305 (e.g., 1/10^(th) of a second)and a size associated with dirty pages generated during execution of theone or more applications by circuitry 360. For example, larger sizeddirty pages would result in a lower second threshold number. Also, lowerdata bandwidths and higher latencies may also result in a lower secondthreshold number.

In some examples, memory checkpointing may be used as an errorcorrection/recovery technique in which the one or more applicationsbeing executed by circuitry 360 at device 355 are placed in well-knownstates or recovery points. For these examples, the recovery points mayenable the one or more applications to be restored to a known state inthe event of an unexpected/surprise undocking of device 305 to device355. Interconnect characteristics may define a threshold amount ofmemory contents in near memory 370 that may be safely present at anyinstant, before which memory content data needs to be copied back to atleast far memory 340 to reach a recovery point or known state followingan unexpected undocking. If the interconnect between device 305 and 355is a low latency, high bandwidth interconnect capable of copying memorycontents from near memory 370 in a very short time (e.g., less than1/100^(th) of a second) then no memory checkpointing may be need.However if needed, memory checkpointing may establish a type of dynamicthreshold number of dirty pages based on such interconnectcharacteristics as available data bandwidth, observed latencies over theinterconnect, or assigned power usage limits for migrating memorycontents between near memory 370 and at least far memory 340 over theinterconnect.

According to some examples, the dynamic threshold number of dirty pagesassociated with memory checkpointing may also be based on MC 346's writelatency to far memory 340. If MC 346 has a relatively long writelatency, then the threshold number of dirty pages would be lower toaccommodate this longer write latency. The dynamic threshold number ofdirty pages may also be based on a read latency of iMC 376 for readingdata from near memory 370. For example, a relatively fast read latencymay allow for a higher threshold number of dirty pages.

The above mentioned criteria for setting a threshold number of dirtypages for memory checkpointing are just a few of the example criteria,examples are not limited to just the above mentioned criteria.

Proceeding to process 5.9 (Receive Dirty Page(s) to Far Memory), logicand/or features at device 305 may receive one or more dirty pages to farmemory 340. The one or more dirty pages may represent at least a portionof memory content maintained in near memory 370 and may have been sentaccording to a write-back policy or as part of memory checkpointing.

Proceeding to process 5.10 (Page Miss to Near Memory), circuitry 360during the execution of the one or more applications may request datathat is not included in the memory contents migrated to near memory 370.In some examples, the lack of the data in near memory 370 may result ina page miss. For these examples, the data may be maintained in farmemory 340.

Proceeding to process 5.11 (Memory Access Request to Far Memory), logicand/or features at device 355 such as iMC 376 may generate and send amemory access request to MC 346 at far memory 340. In some examples, thememory access request may be to obtain data responsive to the page miss.

Proceeding to process 5.12 (Fulfill the Memory Access Request), logicand/or features at device 305 such as MC 346 may receive the memoryaccess request and fulfill the request in order to provide the dataassociated with the page miss.

In some examples, at least processes 5.7 to 5.12 of process 500 maycontinue until a disconnection/termination of the interconnectconnecting device 355 to device 305. As mentioned more below, in someexample, another series of processes may be implemented by logic and/orfeatures at devices 305 and 355 to allow context information and memorycontents for executing the one or more applications to migrate back tonear memory 330. The migration may occur prior to the termination of theinterconnect.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example process 600. In some examples, process 600may be for undocking or disconnecting an aggregated or composed memoryresource between devices. For these examples, elements of system 300 asshown in FIG. 3 may be used to illustrate example operations related toprocess 600. Also, process 600 may be a continuation of process 500following the aggregation or composing of memory resources as describedabove for FIG. 5.

However, the example processes or operations are not limited toimplementations using elements of system 300 or to a continuation ofprocess 500.

Beginning at process 6.0 (Execute Application(s)), circuitry 360 ofdevice 355 may be executing one or more applications that werepreviously executed by circuitry 320 of device 305 prior to docking asmentioned above for process 500.

Proceeding to process 6.1 (Detect Undocking), logic and/or features atdevice 355 may detect or receive an indication that the connection todevice 305 is to be terminated. In some examples, if the connection isvia a wired interconnect, the detection may be based on a user causingthe indication by inputting an indication and/or physically removingdevice from a dock or unplugging a connector (e.g., a dongle) for thewired interconnect. In other examples, if the connection is via awireless interconnect, the detection may be based on the user initiatingmovement of device 305 in a direction away from device 355 in a mannerthat indicates the wireless interconnect is soon to be disconnected orfall out of an acceptable range to maintain the wireless interconnect.

Proceeding to process 6.2 (Power Up Circuitry, Near Memory), logicand/or features at device 305 may power up circuitry 320 and near memory330 in anticipation of the undocking. In some examples, as mentionedabove for process 500, a write-back policy that may have caused at leasta portion of memory contents maintained in near memory 370 during theexecution of the one or more applications by circuitry 360 to beperiodically sent to device 305 and stored at far memory 340. For theseexamples, these previously sent dirty pages may be copied to near memory330 upon initial power up to reduce the amount of total copied memorycontents that may need to be migrated to enable circuitry 320 to executethe one or more applications in a more time efficient manner.

Proceeding to process 6.3 (Flush Context Information, QuiesceCircuitry), logic and/or features at device 355 may cause contextinformation used to execute the one or more applications to be flushedfrom near memory 370. The logic and/or features may then quiescecircuitry 360.

Proceeding to process 6.4 (Send Context Information, Second Copy ofMemory Contents via Interconnect), logic and/or feature at device 355may cause the flushed context information and a second copy of memorycontents to be sent to device 305 via the interconnect. In someexamples, the context information and the second copy of memory contentsmay be received at far memory 340. For these examples, as mentionedabove for process 6.2, other portions of the memory contents previouslymaintained in near memory 370 may have been sent as part of a write-backpolicy to facilitate timely migration of memory content between device355 and device 305. Portions not previously sent as part of thewrite-back policy may now be sent with the second copy of memorycontents to allow for less data to be transferred via the interconnect.

Proceeding to process 6.5 (Power Down Circuitry, Near Memory), logicand/or features at device 355 may then power down both circuitry 360 andnear memory 370.

Proceeding to process 6.5 (Receive Context Information, Second Copy ofMemory Contents to Near Memory), logic and/or features at device 305 mayreceive the context information and the second copy of memory contentsto far memory 340.

Proceeding to process 6.6 (Store Context Information, Second Copy ofMemory Contents to Near Memory), logic and/or features at device 305 maythen store the received context information and the second copy ofmemory contents to near memory 330. In some examples, near memory 330may have a smaller memory capacity than near memory 370. For theseexamples, at least a portion of the second copy of memory contents maybe storied to near memory 330 based on a memory paging policy. Thememory paging policy may include storing memory pages that were activelyused by circuitry 360 while executing the one or applications.

The memory paging policy may also include storing based on an ageassociated with a given memory pages, e.g., more recently written tomemory pages are stored first or have priority for limited near memory330 capacity. The memory paging policy may also include storing based onan access pattern associated with the memory pages that may beassociated with either a priority scheme or indicate which memory pageswere the most recently accessed. Examples are not limited to the abovementioned memory paging policies, other policies to prioritize whichmemory pages from the second copy of memory contents are to be copied tonear memory are contemplated.

Proceeding to process 6.7 (Execute Application(s)), circuitry 320 atdevice 305 may use the context information and the portions of thesecond copy of memory contents now stored in near memory 330 to resumeexecution of the one or more applications.

Proceeding to process 6.8 (Complete Undocking), logic and/or features atboth device 305 and 355 may complete the undocking by terminating theconnection via the interconnect and process 600 then comes to an end.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example logic flow 700 for memory checkpointing.In some examples, logic flow 700 may be implemented by device 355 ofsystem 300 as described above for FIG. 3 following a docking to device305 and migration of execution of one or more applications to circuitry360 of device 355. Also, other components or elements of system 300 maybe used to illustrate example processes related to logic flow 700.However, the example processes or operations are not limited toimplementation using elements of system 300.

Moving from the start to decision block 710 (Undock Event?), logicand/or features at device 355 may determine whether an undock event hasoccurred. In some examples, the undock event may be based on receivingor detecting an indication that an undock is about to occur. If anindication of an undock is received or detected, the process moves toblock 740. Otherwise, the process moves to block 720.

Moving from decision block 710 to block 720 (Execute Application(s)),circuitry 360 may execute the one or more applications. During executionof the one or more applications the process may move to either decisionblock 730 or to decision block 750.

Proceeding from block 720 to decision block 730 (M_(T) Reached?), logicand/or features at device 355 may determine whether a dynamic thresholdnumber of dirty pages referred to as “M_(T)” has been reached. In someexamples, M_(T) may be based on available data bandwidth, observedlatencies, or assigned power usage limits for migrating a copy of memorycontents between at least far memory 340 and near memory 370 via thewired or wireless interconnect connecting device 355 to device 305.M_(T) may also be based on MC 346's write latency to far memory 340 andiMCs read latency from near memory 370. For these examples, M_(T) mayimpact the frequency at which dirty pages or data needs to be copied todevice 305 during execution of the one or more applications by circuitry360 at device 355. As MC 346's write latency and iMC 376's read latencymay be static or fixed, a dynamic threshold number for M_(T) may stillbe needed in that interconnect characteristics (moving objects,interference, rain, humidity, etc.) may change. If M_(T) is reached orexceeded the process moves to block 740. Otherwise, the process returnsto decision block 710.

Moving from either decision block 710 or decision block 730 to block 740(Send Checkpoint Contents to Device 305), logic and/or features ofdevice 355 may send memory checkpoint contents that may include one ormore dirty pages to at least far memory 340 at device 305. If theprocess moved from decision block 710 the process may then come to anend as execution of the one or more applications shifts or migrates backto device 305 and circuitry 360 and near memory 370 are powered down. Ifthe process moved from decision block 730, the process then moves todecision block 710.

Moving from block 720 to decision block 750 (Page Miss?), logic and/orfeatures at device 355 may determine if a page miss has occurred to nearmemory 370 during the execution of the one or more applications bycircuitry 360. In some examples, iMC 376 may make this determination. Ifa page miss occurs, the process moves to decision block 760. Otherwise,the process moves to decision block 710.

Moving from decision block 750 to decision block 760 (Dirty PagesPresent?), logic and/or features at device 355 may determine if anydirty pages may be present and/or ready for sending to at least farmemory 340 at device 305. In some examples, copying of data such asdirty pages may be an expensive operation in terms of power usage andpossible performance drains to device 355 or device 305. Therefore, toreduce the frequency of copying of dirty pages a technique may beimplemented that whenever a page miss to near memory 370 occurs, all thedirty pages present in near memory 370 may be copied to at least farmemory 340 at device 305. This may occur even if other thresholds suchas M_(T) have not yet been reached or exceeded.

Hence by opportunistically copying dirty pages upon a page miss,interconnect bandwidth may be better utilized and power consumption mayalso be reduced. In the case of a wireless interconnect, opportunistcopying of dirty pages may be a significant benefit as radio utilizationmay be better optimized for transferring larger amounts of data lessfrequently compared to small amounts of data more frequently. If dirtypages are present, the process moves to block 770. Otherwise the processmoves to 780.

Moving from decision block 760 to block 770 (Send Memory Request andDirty Page(s) to Device 305), logic and/or features at device 355 maycause a memory request for the page miss and any dirty pages to be sentto device 305. In some examples, MC 346 for far memory 340 may receivethe memory request and also cause the dirty pages to be saved to atleast far memory 340. For these examples, MC 346 may also fulfill thememory request by causing data associated with the memory request to beobtained from far memory 340 and sent to device 355 and copied to nearmemory 370. The process then moves to decision block 710.

Moving from decision block 760 to block 780 (Send Memory Request toDevice 305), logic and/or features at device 355 may cause just a memoryrequest for the page miss to be sent to device 305. In some examples, asmentioned above for decision block 770, MC 346 for far memory 340 mayreceive the memory request and fulfill the memory request by causingdata associated with the memory request to be obtained from far memory340 and sent to device 355 and copied to near memory 370. The processthen moves to decision block 710.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram for a first apparatus. As shown inFIG. 8, the first apparatus includes an apparatus 800. Althoughapparatus 800 shown in FIG. 8 has a limited number of elements in acertain topology or configuration, it may be appreciated that apparatus800 may include more or less elements in alternate configurations asdesired for a given implementation.

The apparatus 800 may include a component of a computing device that maybe firmware implemented and have a processor circuit 820 arranged toexecute one or more logics 822-a. It is worthy to note that “a” and “b”and “c” and similar designators as used herein are intended to bevariables representing any positive integer. Thus, for example, if animplementation sets a value for a=5, then a complete set of logics 822-amay include logics 822-1, 822-2, 822-3, 822-4 or 822-5. The examples arenot limited in this context.

According to some examples, apparatus 800 may be part a first devicehaving first circuitry capable of executing one or more applications(e.g. device 105, 205 or 305) using a 2LM architecture including a firstnear memory and a second far memory. The examples are not limited inthis context.

In some examples, as shown in FIG. 8, apparatus 800 includes processorcircuit 820. Processor circuit 820 may be generally arranged to executeone or more logics 822-a. Processor circuit 820 can be any of variouscommercially available processors, including without limitation an AMD®Athlon®, Duron® and Opteron® processors; ARM® application, embedded andsecure processors; IBM® and Motorola® DragonBall® and PowerPC®processors; IBM and Sony® Cell processors; Qualcomm® Snapdragon®; Intel®Celeron®, Core (2) Duo®, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Itanium®, Pentium®,Xeon®, Atom® and XScale® processors; and similar processors. Dualmicroprocessors, multi-core processors, and other multi-processorarchitectures may also be employed as processor circuit 820. Accordingto some examples processor circuit 820 may also be an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC) and logics 822-a may be implementedas hardware elements of the ASIC.

According to some examples, apparatus 800 may include a detect logic822-1. Detect logic 822-1 may be executed by processor circuit 820 todetect second circuitry capable of executing one or more applicationsusing the 2LM architecture that also includes a second near memory. Forexample, detect logic 822-1 may receive detect information 805 that mayindicate that a second device having the second circuitry and secondnear memory has connected to the first device via either a wired orwireless communication channel

In some examples, apparatus 800 may also include a connect logic 822-2.Connect logic 822-2 may be executed by processor circuit 820 to causedevice connection between the first far memory and the second nearmemory via an interconnect. For example, connect logic 822-2 may connectvia an interconnect that may operate in compliance with one or more lowlatency, high bandwidth and efficient interconnect technologies such asPCIe, QPI, WiGig or Wi-Fi.

According to some examples, apparatus 800 may also include a migrationlogic 822-3.

Migration logic 822-3 may be executed by processor circuit 820 toutilize the first far memory to cause a copy of memory contents 825 tomigrate from the first near memory maintained at the first device to thesecond near memory. The copy of memory contents 825 may be migrated in amanner transparent to an OS for the first device or the second device.In some examples, migration logic 822-3 may also facilitate the storingof at least a portion of a copy of memory contents 845 received from thesecond device in the event of an undocking. The at least portion of thecopy of memory contents 845 may be stored according to paging policy724-a. Paging policy 724-a may be maintained by migration logic 822-3 ina data structure such as a lookup table (LUT).

In some examples, migration logic 822-3 may receive at least portions ofmemory contents 845 from the second near memory. The at least portionsof memory content 845 may include dirty page(s) 810. Dirty page(s) 810may have been generated during execution of the one or more applicationsby the second circuitry. For these examples, migration logic 822-3 maycause dirty page(s) 810 to be stored to at least the first far memory.

According to some examples, apparatus 800 may include a request logic822-4. Request logic 822-4 may be executed by processor circuitry toreceive a memory request 835 that may include a memory access request tothe first far memory based on a page miss to the second near memory. Forthese examples, request logic 822-4 may cause the memory access requestincluded in memory request 835 to be fulfilled to provide dataassociated with the page miss in a far memory response 840.

According to some examples, apparatus 800 may include a power logic822-5. Power logic 822-5 may be executed by processor circuit 820 toeither cause the first circuitry and the first near memory to be powereddown or powered up. For example, the first circuitry and the first nearmemory may be powered down to a lower power state following the sendingof context information and the copy of memory contents 825 to the seconddevice. The first circuitry and the first near memory may subsequentlybe powered up to a higher power state following an indication that theinterconnect between the first and second devices is about to beterminated.

The indication may be included in connection information 815 (e.g., userinput command or wireless range detection).

Included herein is a set of logic flows representative of examplemethodologies for performing novel aspects of the disclosedarchitecture. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the oneor more methodologies shown herein are shown and described as a seriesof acts, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate thatthe methodologies are not limited by the order of acts. Some acts may,in accordance therewith, occur in a different order and/or concurrentlywith other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, thoseskilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodologycould alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states orevents, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all acts illustratedin a methodology may be required for a novel implementation.

A logic flow may be implemented in software, firmware, and/or hardware.In software and firmware embodiments, a logic flow may be implemented bycomputer executable instructions stored on at least one non-transitorycomputer readable medium or machine readable medium, such as an optical,magnetic or semiconductor storage. The embodiments are not limited inthis context.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a first logic flow. As shown in FIG. 9,the first logic flow includes a logic flow 900. Logic flow 900 may berepresentative of some or all of the operations executed by one or morelogic, features, or devices described herein, such as apparatus 900.

More particularly, logic flow 900 may be implemented by detect logic822-1, connect logic 822-2, migration logic 822-3, request logic 822-4or power logic 822-5.

In the illustrated example shown in FIG. 9, logic flow 900 at block 902may execute on first circuitry one or more applications. The firstcircuitry may be capable of executing the one or more applications usinga 2LM architecture including a first near memory and a first far memory.

According to some examples, logic flow 900 at block 904 may detectsecond circuitry capable of executing the one or more applications usingthe 2LM architecture that also includes a second near memory. For theseexamples, detect logic 822-1 may detect the second circuitry.

In some examples, logic flow 900 at block 906 may connect to the firstfar memory to the second near memory. For these examples, connect logic822-2 may cause the connection via an interconnect to become establishedthrough either a wired or wireless communication channel.

According to some examples, logic flow 900 at block 908 may utilize thefirst far memory to migrate a copy of memory contents from the firstnear memory to the second near memory. The copy of memory contents maybe migrated in a manner transparent to an operating system. For theseexamples, migration logic 822-3 may cause the copy of memory contents tobe migrated to the second near memory.

In some examples, logic flow 900 at block 910 may power down the firstcircuitry and the first near memory to a lower power state following themigration of the copy of memory contents in the first near memory to thesecond near memory. For these examples, power logic 822-5 may cause thefirst circuitry and the first near memory to be powered down.

According to some examples, logic flow 900 at block 912 may continue topower the first far memory. For these examples, power logic 822-5 maycause power to the first far memory to be continued.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of a first storage medium. As shown inFIG. 10, the first storage medium includes a storage medium 1000.Storage medium 1000 may comprise an article of manufacture. In someexamples, storage medium 1000 may include any non-transitory computerreadable medium or machine readable medium, such as an optical, magneticor semiconductor storage. Storage medium 1000 may store various types ofcomputer executable instructions, such as instructions to implementlogic flow 900. Examples of a computer readable or machine readablestorage medium may include any tangible media capable of storingelectronic data, including volatile memory or non-volatile memory,removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory,writeable or re-writeable memory, and so forth. Examples of computerexecutable instructions may include any suitable type of code, such assource code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, staticcode, dynamic code, object-oriented code, visual code, and the like. Theexamples are not limited in this context.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram for a second apparatus. As shown inFIG. 11, the second apparatus includes an apparatus 1100. Althoughapparatus 1100 shown in FIG. 11 has a limited number of elements in acertain topology or configuration, it may be appreciated that apparatus1100 may include more or less elements in alternate configurations asdesired for a given implementation.

The apparatus 1100 may include a component of a computing device thatmay be firmware implemented and have a processor circuit 1120 arrangedto execute one or more logics 1122-a. Similar to apparatus 800 for FIG.8, “a” and “b” and “c” and similar designators may be variablesrepresenting any positive integer.

According to some examples, apparatus 1100 may be part a first device(e.g. device 155, 255 or 355) having first circuitry capable ofexecuting one or more applications using a 2LM architecture including anear memory and a far memory. The examples are not limited in thiscontext.

In some examples, as shown in FIG. 11, apparatus 1100 includes processorcircuit 1120.

Processor circuit 1120 may be generally arranged to execute one or morelogics 1122-a.

Processor circuit 1120 can be any of various commercially availableprocessors to include, but not limited to, those previously mentionedfor processor circuit 820 for apparatus 800. Dual microprocessors,multi-core processors, and other multi-processor architectures may alsobe employed as processor circuit 1120. According to some examplesprocessor circuit 1120 may also be an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC) and logics 1122-a may be implemented as hardware elementsof the ASIC.

According to some examples, apparatus 1100 may include a detect logic1122-1. Detect logic 1122-1 may be executed by processor circuit 1120 todetect an indication of a connection to a second near memory included inthe 2LM architecture. The second near memory may be capable of beingused by the one or more applications when executed by the secondcircuitry.

For example, detect logic 1122-1 may receive detect information 1105that may indicate the connection to the second circuitry via either awired or wireless communication channel

In some examples, apparatus 1100 may also include a copy logic 1122-2.Copy logic 1122-2 may be executed by processor circuit 1120 to receive,from the first far memory, a copy of memory contents 1110 sent from thesecond near memory used by the second circuitry to execute the one ormore applications. Copy logic 1122-2 may store the copy of memorycontents 1110 to the first near memory in a manner transparent to an OS.The copy of memory contents 1110 stored to the first near memory for useby the first circuitry to execute the one or more applications.

In some examples, apparatus 1100 may also include a request logic1122-3. Request logic 1122-3 may be executed by processor circuit 1120to receive a page miss indication for the first near memory. The pagemiss may be associated with data maintained in the first far memory.

Responsive to the page miss request, logic 1122-3 may send a memoryaccess request included in far memory request 1035 to the first farmemory to obtain the data. Request logic 1122-3 may then receive thedata from the first far memory in a far memory response included in farmemory response 1140 and may then cause the copying of the received datato the first near memory.

According to some examples, apparatus 1100 may also include a write-backlogic 1122-4.

Write-back logic 1122-4 may be executed by processor circuit 1120 tosend, from the first near memory, at least portions of memory content tothe first far memory. The at least portions of memory content mayinclude dirty page(s) 1125 that has one or more dirty pages generatedduring execution of the one or more applications by the first circuitry.For these examples, write-back logic 1122-4 may maintain write-backpolicy 1124-a, e.g., in a data structure such as a LUT. Write-backpolicy 1124-a may direct write-back logic 1122-4 to send dirty page(s)1125 to the first far memory based on one or more of a first or a secondthreshold number of dirty pages maintained in the first near memorybeing exceeded or a threshold time via which dirty pages may bemaintained in the first near memory being exceeded.

In some examples, write-back logic 1122-4 may also cause at leastportions of memory content to be written back to at least the first farmemory based on memory checkpointing. As mentioned above, memorycheckpointing may be associated with a dynamic threshold number of dirtypages (e.g., M_(T)). Once the dynamic threshold number of dirty pages isexceeded, write-back logic 1122-4 may send dirty page(s) 1125 that mayinclude one or more dirty pages.

In some examples, apparatus 1100 may also include a migration logic1122-5. Migration logic 1122-5 may be executed by processor circuit 1120to send a copy of memory contents 1145 from the first near memory to atleast the first far memory to enable migration of at least a portion ofthe copy of memory contents 1145 to the second near memory. In someexamples, the copy of memory contents 1145 may be sent in response to adetection of an undocking or an indication that the connection to thesecond device was about to be terminated. This information may bereceived in connection information 1115.

In some examples, apparatus 1100 may include a power logic 1122-6. Powerlogic 1122-6 may be executed by processor circuit 1120 to either powerdown or power up the first circuitry and the first near memory at thefirst device. For example, the first circuitry and the first near memorymay be powered down to a lower power state following the sending offlushed context information and a copy of memory contents 1145 from thefirst near memory to the second device.

Included herein is a set of logic flows representative of examplemethodologies for performing novel aspects of the disclosedarchitecture. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the oneor more methodologies shown herein are shown and described as a seriesof acts, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate thatthe methodologies are not limited by the order of acts. Some acts may,in accordance therewith, occur in a different order and/or concurrentlywith other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, thoseskilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodologycould alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states orevents, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all acts illustratedin a methodology may be required for a novel implementation.

A logic flow may be implemented in software, firmware, and/or hardware.In software and firmware embodiments, a logic flow may be implemented bycomputer executable instructions stored on at least one non-transitorycomputer readable medium or machine readable medium, such as an optical,magnetic or semiconductor storage. The embodiments are not limited inthis context.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a second logic flow. As shown in FIG.12, the second logic flow includes a logic flow 1200. Logic flow 1200may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by oneor more logic, features, or devices described herein, such as apparatus1200. More particularly, logic flow 1200 may be implemented by detectlogic 1122-1, copy logic 1122-2, request logic 1122-3, write-back logic1122-4, migration logic 1122-5 or power logic 1122-6.

In the illustrated example shown in FIG. 12, logic flow 1200 at block1202 may detect, at a first device having first circuitry, an indicationthat a second device having second circuitry has connected to the firstdevice. The first and the second circuitry may each be capable ofexecuting one or more applications arranged to be executed using a 2LMarchitecture having a near memory and a far memory. For example, detectlogic 1122-1 may detect the second device.

In some examples, logic flow 1200 at block 1204 may receive, from afirst far memory located at the second device, a copy of memory contentsfrom a second near memory located at the second device, the memorycontents used by the second circuitry to execute the one or moreapplications. For these examples, copy logic 1122-2 may receive the copyof memory contents.

According to some examples, logic flow 1200 at block 1206 may store thecopy of memory contents to a first near memory located at the firstdevice in a manner transparent to an operating system for the first orthe second device. The copy of memory contents may be stored to thefirst near memory for use by the first circuitry to execute the one ormore applications. For these examples, copy logic 1122-2 may cause thecopy of memory contents to be stored to the first near memory.

In some examples, logic flow 1200 at block 1208 may send from the firstnear memory, at least portions of memory content to the first far memorylocated at the second device. The at least portions of memory contentmay include one or more dirty pages generated during execution of theone or more applications by the first circuitry. For these examples,write-back logic 1122-4 may cause the at least portions of memorycontent to be sent to at least the first far memory.

In some examples, logic flow 1200 at block 1210 may receive a page missindication for the first near memory. The page miss associated with datamaintained in the first far memory. The logic flow at block 1212 maythen send a memory access request to the second device to obtain thedata maintained in the first far memory. The logic flow at block 1214may then receive the data from the first far memory and the logic flowat block 1216 may store the data in the first near memory. For theseexamples, request logic 1122-3 may be capable of implementing blocks1210 to 1216 of logic flow 1200.

FIG. 13 illustrates an embodiment of a second storage medium. As shownin FIG. 13, the second storage medium includes a storage medium 1300.Storage medium 1300 may comprise an article of manufacture. In someexamples, storage medium 1300 may include any non-transitory computerreadable medium or machine readable medium, such as an optical, magneticor semiconductor storage. Storage medium 1300 may store various types ofcomputer executable instructions, such as instructions to implementlogic flow 1200. Examples of a computer readable or machine readablestorage medium may include any tangible media capable of storingelectronic data, including volatile memory or non-volatile memory,removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory,writeable or re-writeable memory, and so forth. Examples of computerexecutable instructions may include any suitable type of code, such assource code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, staticcode, dynamic code, object-oriented code, visual code, and the like. Theexamples are not limited in this context.

FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment of a device 1400. In some examples,device 1400 may be configured or arranged for aggregating compute,memory and input/output (1/0) resources with another device. Device 1400may implement, for example, apparatus 800/1100, storage medium 1000/1300and/or a logic circuit 1470. The logic circuit 1470 may include physicalcircuits to perform operations described for apparatus 800/1100. Asshown in FIG. 14, device 1400 may include a radio interface 1410,baseband circuitry 1420, and computing platform 1430, although examplesare not limited to this configuration.

The device 1400 may implement some or all of the structure and/oroperations for apparatus 800/1100, storage medium 1000/1300 and/or logiccircuit 1470 in a single computing entity, such as entirely within asingle device. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Radio interface 1410 may include a component or combination ofcomponents adapted for transmitting and/or receiving single carrier ormulti-carrier modulated signals (e.g., including complementary codekeying (CCK) and/or orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)symbols and/or single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDMsymbols) although the embodiments are not limited to any specificover-the-air interface or modulation scheme. Radio interface 1410 mayinclude, for example, a receiver 1412, a transmitter 1416 and/or afrequency synthesizer 1414. Radio interface 1410 may include biascontrols, a crystal oscillator and/or one or more antennas 1418-f. Inanother embodiment, radio interface 1410 may use externalvoltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), surface acoustic wave filters,intermediate frequency (IF) filters and/or RF filters, as desired. Dueto the variety of potential RF interface designs an expansivedescription thereof is omitted.

Baseband circuitry 1420 may communicate with radio interface 1410 toprocess receive and/or transmit signals and may include, for example, ananalog-to-digital converter 1422 for down converting received signals, adigital-to-analog converter 1424 for up converting signals fortransmission. Further, baseband circuitry 1420 may include a baseband orphysical layer (PHY) processing circuit 1426 for PHY link layerprocessing of respective receive/transmit signals.

Baseband circuitry 1420 may include, for example, a processing circuit1428 for medium access control (MAC)/data link layer processing.Baseband circuitry 1420 may include a memory controller 1432 forcommunicating with MAC processing circuit 1428 and/or a computingplatform 1430, for example, via one or more interfaces 1434.

In some embodiments, PHY processing circuit 1426 may include a frameconstruction and/or detection logic, in combination with additionalcircuitry such as a buffer memory, to construct and/or deconstructcommunication frames (e.g., containing subframes). Alternatively or inaddition, MAC processing circuit 1428 may share processing for certainof these functions or perform these processes independent of PHYprocessing circuit 1426. In some embodiments, MAC and PHY processing maybe integrated into a single circuit.

Computing platform 1430 may provide computing functionality for device1400. As shown, computing platform 1430 may include a processingcomponent 1440. In addition to, or alternatively of, baseband circuitry1420 of device 1400 may execute processing operations or logic forapparatus 800/1100, storage medium 1000/1300, and logic circuit 1470using the processing component 1430. Processing component 1440 (and/orPHY 1426 and/or MAC 1428) may comprise various hardware elements,software elements, or a combination of both.

Examples of hardware elements may include devices, logic devices,components, processors, microprocessors, circuits, processor circuits,circuit elements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors,and so forth), integrated circuits, application specific integratedcircuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signalprocessors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), memory units,logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chipsets, and so forth. Examples of software elements may include softwarecomponents, programs, applications, computer programs, applicationprograms, system programs, software development programs, machineprograms, operating system software, middleware, firmware, softwaremodules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, softwareinterfaces, application program interfaces (API), instruction sets,computing code, computer code, code segments, computer code segments,words, values, symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whetheran example is implemented using hardware elements and/or softwareelements may vary in accordance with any number of factors, such asdesired computational rate, power levels, heat tolerances, processingcycle budget, input data rates, output data rates, memory resources,data bus speeds and other design or performance constraints, as desiredfor a given example.

Computing platform 1430 may further include other platform components1450. Other platform components 1450 include common computing elements,such as one or more processors, multi-core processors, co-processors,memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals, interfaces,oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards, multimediainput/output (I/O) components (e.g., digital displays), power supplies,and so forth. Examples of memory units may include without limitationvarious types of computer readable and machine readable storage media inthe form of one or more higher speed memory units, such as read-onlymemory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM(SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymermemory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase changeor ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS)memory, magnetic or optical cards, an array of devices such as RedundantArray of Independent Disks (RAID) drives, solid state memory devices(e.g., USB memory, solid state drives (SSD) and any other type ofstorage media suitable for storing information.

Computing platform 1430 may further include a network interface 1460. Insome examples, network interface 1460 may include logic and/or featuresto support network interfaces operated in compliance with one or morewireless or wired technologies such as those described above forconnecting to another device via a wired or wireless communicationchannel to establish an interconnect between the devices.

Device 1400 may be, for example, user equipment, a computer, a personalcomputer (PC), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebookcomputer, a netbook computer, a tablet computer, an ultra-book computer,a smart phone, a wearable computing device, embedded electronics, agaming console, a server, a server array or server farm, a web server, anetwork server, an Internet server, a work station, a mini-computer, amain frame computer, a supercomputer, a network appliance, a webappliance, a distributed computing system, multiprocessor systems,processor-based systems, or combination thereof. Accordingly, functionsand/or specific configurations of device 1400 described herein, may beincluded or omitted in various embodiments of device 1400, as suitablydesired.

Embodiments of device 1400 may be implemented using single input singleoutput (SISO) architectures. However, certain implementations mayinclude multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 1418-f) for transmissionand/or reception using adaptive antenna techniques for beamforming orspatial division multiple access (SDMA) and/or using multiple inputmultiple output (MIMO) communication techniques.

The components and features of device 1400 may be implemented using anycombination of discrete circuitry, application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), logic gates and/or single chip architectures. Further,the features of device 1400 may be implemented using microcontrollers,programmable logic arrays and/or microprocessors or any combination ofthe foregoing where suitably appropriate. It is noted that hardware,firmware and/or software elements may be collectively or individuallyreferred to herein as “logic” or “circuit.”

It should be appreciated that the exemplary device 1400 shown in theblock diagram of FIG. 14 may represent one functionally descriptiveexample of many potential implementations.

Accordingly, division, omission or inclusion of block functions depictedin the accompanying figures does not infer that the hardware components,circuits, software and/or elements for implementing these functionswould be necessarily be divided, omitted, or included in embodiments.

Some examples may be described using the expression “in one example” or“an example” along with their derivatives. These terms mean that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the example is included in at least one example. The appearances ofthe phrase “in one example” in various places in the specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same example.

Some examples may be described using the expression “coupled”,“connected”, or “capable of being coupled” along with their derivatives.These terms are not necessarily intended as synonyms for each other. Forexample, descriptions using the terms “connected” and/or “coupled” mayindicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electricalcontact with each other. The term “coupled,” however, may also mean thattwo or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yetstill co-operate or interact with each other.

In some examples, an example first apparatus may include. The examplefirst apparatus may also include first circuitry capable of executingone or more applications using a two-level memory (2LM) architectureincluding a first near memory and a first far memory. The example firstapparatus may also include a detect logic to detect second circuitrycapable of executing the one or more applications using the 2LMarchitecture that also includes a second near memory.

The example first apparatus may also include a connect logic to cause aconnection between the first far memory and the second near memory. Theexample first apparatus may also include a migration logic to utilizethe first far memory to cause a copy of memory contents from the firstnear memory to migrate to the second near memory. The memory contentsmay be migrated in a manner transparent to an operating system.

According to some examples for the example first apparatus, the firstcircuitry, first near memory and first far memory may be located at afirst device and the second circuitry and second near memory may belocated at a second device.

In some examples for the example first apparatus, the first near memorymay have a first memory capacity that is smaller than a second memorycapacity of the second near memory.

According to some examples, the example first apparatus may also includea power logic to power down the first circuitry and the first nearmemory to a lower power state following the migration of the copy ofmemory contents in the first near memory to the second near memory andcause continued power to the first far memory.

In some examples for the example first apparatus, the connect logic mayreceive an indication the connection between the first far memory andthe second near memory is to be terminated.

The power logic may then cause the first circuitry and the first nearmemory to power up the first circuitry and the first near memory to ahigher power state. The migration logic may then receive a second copyof memory contents from the second near memory and cause the second copyof memory contents to be stored to the first far memory and at least aportion of the second copy of memory contents to be stored to the firstnear memory.

According to some examples for the example first apparatus, themigration logic may cause the at least a portion of the second copy ofmemory contents to be stored to the first near memory based on a memorypaging policy to store memory pages previously stored in the second nearmemory and used by the one or more applications when executed by thesecond circuitry. The memory paging policy may include at least one ofstoring actively used memory pages, storing based on an age associatedwith the memory pages or storing based on an access pattern associatedwith the memory pages.

In some examples, the example first apparatus may also include a requestlogic to receive a memory access request to the first far memory basedon a page miss to the second near memory and cause the memory accessrequest to the first far memory to be fulfilled to provide dataassociated with the page miss to the second near memory.

According to some examples for the example first apparatus, themigration logic may receive at least portions of memory content from thesecond near memory. For these examples, the at least portions of memorycontent may include one or more dirty pages generated during executionof the one or more applications by the second circuitry. The migrationlogic may cause the one or more dirty pages to be stored to the firstfar memory.

In some examples for the example first apparatus, the migration logicmay receive the at least portions of memory content based on awrite-back policy that includes one or more of a first or a secondthreshold number of dirty pages maintained in the second near memorybeing exceeded or a threshold time via which dirty pages may bemaintained in the second near memory being exceeded.

According to some examples for the example first apparatus, themigration logic may receive the at least portions of memory contentbased on memory checkpointing that includes a dynamic threshold numberof dirty pages maintained in the second near memory being exceeded. Forthese examples, the dynamic threshold number may be based on availabledata bandwidth, observed latencies, or assigned power usage limits formigrating a second copy of memory contents between the first far memoryand the second near memory via a wired interconnect or a wirelessinterconnect, the dynamic threshold number also based on memorycontroller write latency to the first far memory and memory controllerread latency from the second near memory.

In some examples for the example first apparatus, the first device mayinclude one or more of the first device having a lower thermal capacityfor dissipating heat from the first circuitry compared to a higherthermal capacity for dissipating heat from the second circuitry at thesecond device, the first device operating on battery power or the firstdevice having a lower current-carrying capacity for powering the firstcircuitry compared to a higher current-carrying capacity for poweringthe second circuitry at the second device.

In some examples, example first methods may include executing on firstcircuitry one or more applications. The first circuitry may be capableof executing the one or more applications using a two-level memory (2LM)architecture including a first near memory and a first far memory.

The example first methods may also include detecting a second circuitrycapable of executing the one or more applications using the 2LMarchitecture that also includes a second near memory. The example firstmethods may also include connecting the first far memory to the secondnear memory. The example first methods may also include utilizing thefirst far memory to migrate a copy of memory contents from the firstnear memory to the second near memory, the copy of memory contentsmigrated in a manner transparent to an operating system.

According to some examples for the example first methods, the firstcircuitry, first near memory and first far memory may be located at afirst device and the second circuitry and second near memory may belocated at a second device.

In some examples for the example first methods, the first near memorymay have a first memory capacity that is smaller than a second memorycapacity of the second near memory.

According to some examples, the example first methods may also includepowering down the first circuitry and the first near memory to a lowerpower state following the migration of the copy of memory contents inthe first near memory to the second near memory. The example firstmethods may also include continuing to power the first far memory.

According to some examples, the example first methods may also includereceiving, at the first far memory, a memory access request based on apage miss to the second near memory; and fulfilling the memory accessrequest in order to provide data associated with the page miss.

In some examples for the example first methods, the second device may bedetected responsive to the first device coupling to a wired interfacethat enables the first device to establish a wired communication channelto connect with the second device via a wired interconnect or responsiveto the first device coming within a given physical proximity thatenables the first device to establish a wireless communication channelto connect with the second device via a wireless interconnect.

According to some examples, the example first methods may also includereceiving, at the first far memory, at least portions of memory contentfrom the second near memory. For these examples, the at least portionsof memory content may include one or more dirty pages generated duringexecution of the one or more applications by the second circuitry.

In some examples for the example first methods, receiving the at leastportions of memory content may be based on a write-back policy thatincludes one or more of a first or a second threshold number of dirtypages maintained in the second near memory being exceeded or a thresholdtime via which dirty pages may be maintained in the second near memorybeing exceeded.

According to some examples for the example first methods, the firstthreshold number may be based on a memory capacity for the first nearmemory or respective data bandwidth and latencies for migrating a secondcopy of memory contents between the first far memory and the second nearmemory via a wired interconnect or a wireless interconnect.

In some examples for the example first methods, the second thresholdnumber may be based on a data bandwidth capability for migrating asecond copy of memory contents between the first far memory and thesecond near memory via a wired interconnect or a wireless interconnect,a time limit associated with disconnecting from the wired or wirelessinterconnect and a size associated with the one or more dirty pagesgenerated during execution of the one or more applications by the secondcircuitry.

According to some examples for the example first methods, receiving theat least portions of memory content may be based on memory checkpointingthat includes a dynamic threshold number of dirty pages maintained inthe second near memory being exceeded, the dynamic threshold numberbased on available data bandwidth, observed latencies, or assigned powerusage limits for migrating a second copy of memory contents between thefirst far memory and the second near memory via a wired interconnect ora wireless interconnect, the dynamic threshold number also based onmemory controller write latency to the first far memory and memorycontroller read latency from the second near memory.

In some examples, the example first methods may also include receivingan indication that the connection to the second circuitry is to beterminated, powering up the first circuitry and the first far memory toa higher power state, receiving, at the first far memory, a migratedsecond copy of memory contents from the second near memory, storing atleast a portion of the migrated second copy of memory contents from thesecond near memory to the first near memory and resuming execution ofthe one or more applications on the first circuitry.

According to some examples for the example first methods, storing the atleast a portion of the second copy of memory contents may be based on amemory paging policy to store memory pages previously stored in thesecond near memory and used by the one or more applications whenexecuted by the second circuitry, the memory paging policy including atleast one of storing actively used memory pages, storing based on an ageassociated with the memory pages or storing based on an access patternassociated with the memory pages.

In some examples for the example first methods, the one or moreapplications may include one of at least a 4K resolution streaming videoapplication, an application to present at least a 4K resolution image orgraphic to a display, a gaming application including video or graphicshaving at least a 4K resolution when presented to a display, a videoediting application or a touch screen application for user input to adisplay coupled to the second circuitry having touch input capabilities.

In some examples, an example first at least one machine readable mediumcomprising a plurality of instructions that in response to beingexecuted on a first device having first circuitry may cause the firstdevice to execute one or more applications, the first circuitry capableof executing the one or more applications using a two-level memory (2LM)architecture including a first near memory and a second far memory. Theinstructions may also cause the first device to detect a secondcircuitry capable of executing the one or more applications using the2LM architecture that also includes a second near memory. Theinstructions may also cause the first device to connect the first farmemory to the second near memory. The instructions may also cause thefirst device to utilize the first far memory to migrate a copy of memorycontents from the first near memory to the second near memory. The copyof memory contents may be migrated in a manner transparent to anoperating system.

According to some examples for the first at least one machine readablemedium, the first circuitry, first near memory and first far memorylocated at the first device and the second circuitry and second nearmemory located at a second device.

In some examples for the first at least one machine readable medium, thefirst near memory may have a first memory capacity that is smaller thana second memory capacity of the second near memory.

According to some examples for the first at least one machine readablemedium, the instructions may also cause the first device to power downthe first circuitry and the first near memory to a lower power statefollowing the migration of the copy of memory contents in the first nearmemory to the second near memory and continue to power the first farmemory.

In some examples for the first at least one machine readable medium, theinstructions may also cause the first device to receive a memory accessrequest to the first far memory based on a page miss to the second nearmemory and fulfill the memory access request to the first far memory inorder to provide data associated with the page miss.

According to some examples for the first at least one machine readablemedium, the instructions may also cause the first device to detect thesecond circuitry responsive to the first device coupling to a wiredinterface that enables the first device to establish a wiredcommunication channel to connect with a second device having the secondcircuitry via a wired interconnect or responsive to the first devicecoming within a given physical proximity that enables the first deviceto establish a wireless communication channel to connect with the seconddevice via a wireless interconnect.

In some examples for the first at least one machine readable medium, theinstructions may also cause the first device to receive at leastportions of memory content from the second near memory, the at leastportions of memory content including one or more dirty pages generatedduring execution of the one or more applications by the second circuitryand cause the received at least portions of memory content to be storedto the first far memory.

According to some examples for the first at least one machine readablemedium, the instructions may also cause the first device to receive theat least portions of memory content based on a write-back policy thatincludes one or more of a first or a second threshold number of dirtypages maintained in the second near memory being exceeded or a thresholdtime via which dirty pages may be maintained in the second near memorybeing exceeded.

In some examples for the first at least one machine readable medium, theinstructions may also cause the first device to receive the at leastportions of memory content based on memory checkpointing that includes adynamic threshold number of dirty pages maintained in the second nearmemory being exceeded, the dynamic threshold number based on availabledata bandwidth, observed latencies, or assigned power usage limits formigrating a second copy of memory contents between the first far memoryand the second near memory via a wired interconnect or a wirelessinterconnect, the dynamic threshold number also based on memorycontroller write latency to the first far memory and memory controllerread latency from the second near memory.

According to some examples for the first at least one machine readablemedium, the instructions to also cause the first device to receive anindication that the connection to the second circuitry is to beterminated, power up the first circuitry and the first far memory to ahigher power state, receive a migrated second copy of memory contentsfrom the second near memory, cause the migrated second copy of memorycontents to be stored to the first far memory and store at least aportion of the migrated second copy of memory contents to the first nearmemory for the resumption of execution of the one or more applicationson the first circuitry.

In some examples for the first at least one machine readable medium, theinstructions may also cause the first device to store the at least aportion of the migrated second copy of memory contents based on a memorypaging policy to store memory pages previously stored in the second nearmemory and used by the one or more applications when executed by thesecond circuitry, the memory paging policy including at least one ofstoring actively used memory pages, storing based on an age associatedwith the memory pages or storing based on an access pattern associatedwith the memory pages.

In some examples, an example second apparatus may include firstcircuitry capable of executing one or more applications using atwo-level memory (2LM) architecture including a first near memory and afirst far memory. The example second apparatus may also include a detectlogic to detect an indication of a connection to a second near memoryincluded in the 2LM architecture. The second near memory may be capableof being used by the one or more applications when executed by secondcircuitry. The example second apparatus may also include a copy logic toreceive, from the first far memory, a copy of memory contents sent fromthe second near memory used by the second circuitry to execute the oneor more applications.

The copy logic may cause the copy of memory contents to be stored in thefirst near memory in a manner transparent to an operating system. Thecopy of memory contents may be stored to the first near memory for useby the first circuitry to execute the one or more applications.

According to some examples for the example second apparatus, the firstnear memory may have a first memory capacity that is larger than asecond memory capacity of the second near memory.

In some examples, the example second apparatus may also include arequest logic to receive a page miss indication for the first nearmemory, the page miss associated with data maintained in the first farmemory. For these examples, the request logic may send a memory accessrequest to the first far memory to obtain the data, receive the datafrom the first far memory and cause the copying of the received data tothe first near memory.

According to some examples for the example second apparatus, the firstcircuitry and first near memory may be located at a first device and thesecond circuitry, first far memory and second near memory may be locatedat a second device.

In some examples for the example second apparatus, the detect logic maydetect the indication of the connection to the second near memoryresponsive to the first device coupling to a wired interface thatenables the first device to establish a wired communication channel toconnect with the second device via a wired interconnect or responsive tothe first device coming within a given physical proximity that enablesthe first device to establish a wireless communication channel toconnect with the second device via a wireless interconnect.

According to some examples, the example second apparatus may alsoinclude a write-back logic to send, from the first near memory, at leastportions of memory content to the first far memory, the at leastportions of memory content including one or more dirty pages generatedduring execution of the one or more applications by the first circuitry.

In some examples for the example second apparatus, the write-back logicmay send the at least portions of memory content based on a write-backpolicy that includes one or more of a first or a second threshold numberof dirty pages maintained in the first near memory being exceeded or athreshold time via which dirty pages may be maintained in the first nearmemory being exceeded.

According to some examples for the example second apparatus, thewrite-back logic may send the at least portions of memory content basedon memory checkpointing that includes a dynamic threshold number ofdirty pages maintained in the first near memory being exceeded, thedynamic threshold number based on available data bandwidth, observedlatencies, or assigned power usage limits for migrating a second copy ofmemory contents between the first far memory and the first near memoryvia a wired interconnect or a wireless interconnect, the dynamicthreshold number also based on memory controller write latency to thefirst far memory and memory controller read latency from the first nearmemory.

In some examples for the example second apparatus, the detect logic toreceive an indication that the connection to the second near memory isto be terminated. The example second apparatus may also include amigration logic to send a second copy of memory contents from the firstnear memory to the first far memory to enable migration of at least aportion of the second copy of memory contents to the second near memory.The example second apparatus may also include a power logic to powerdown the first circuitry and the first near memory to a lower powerstate following the sending of the second copy of memory contents to thefirst far memory.

In some examples, example second methods may include detecting, at afirst device having first circuitry, an indication that a second devicehaving second circuitry has connected to the first device. For theseexamples, the first and the second circuitry may each be capable ofexecuting one or more applications using a two-level memory (2LM)architecture having a near memory and a far memory. The example secondmethods may also include receiving, from a first far memory located atthe second device, a copy of memory contents from a second near memorymaintained at the second device. The memory contents may be used by thesecond circuitry to execute the one or more applications. The examplesecond methods may also include storing the copy of memory contents to afirst near memory located at the first device in a manner transparent toan operating system for the first or the second device. The copy ofmemory contents may be stored to the first near memory for use by thefirst circuitry to execute the one or more applications.

According to some examples for the example second methods, the firstnear memory may have a first memory capacity that is larger than asecond memory capacity of the second near memory.

In some examples, the example second methods may also include receivinga page miss indication for the first near memory. For these examples,the page miss associated with data maintained in the first far memory.The example second methods may also include sending a memory accessrequest to the second device to obtain the data maintained in the firstfar memory, receiving the data from the first far memory and storing thedata to the first near memory.

According to some examples, the example second methods may also includedetecting the indication that the second device has connected responsiveto the first device coupling to a wired interface that enables the firstdevice to establish a wired communication channel to connect with thesecond device via a wired interconnect or responsive to the first devicecoming within a given physical proximity that enables the first deviceto establish a wireless communication channel to connect with the seconddevice via a wireless interconnect.

In some examples, the example second methods may also include sending,from the first near memory, at least portions of memory content to thefirst far memory maintained at the second device. For these examples,the at least portions of memory content may include one or more dirtypages generated during execution of the one or more applications by thefirst circuitry.

According to some examples for the example second methods, sending theat least portions of memory content may be based on a write-back policythat includes one or more of a first or a second threshold number ofdirty pages maintained in the first near memory being exceeded or athreshold time via which dirty pages may be maintained in the first nearmemory being exceeded.

In some examples for the example second methods, the first thresholdnumber may be based on a memory capacity for the second near memory orrespective bandwidth and latencies for migrating a second copy of memorycontents between the first far memory and the first near memory via thewired interconnect or the wireless interconnect.

According to some examples for the example second methods, the secondthreshold number may be based on a data bandwidth capability formigrating a second copy of memory contents between the first far memoryand the first near memory via the wired interconnect or the wirelessinterconnect, a time limit associated with disconnecting the firstdevice from the second device and a size associated with the one or moredirty pages generated during execution of the one or more applicationsby the first circuitry.

In some examples for the example second methods, sending the at leastportions of memory content may be based on memory checkpointing thatincludes a dynamic threshold number of dirty pages maintained in thefirst near memory being exceeded, the dynamic threshold number based onavailable data bandwidth, observed latencies, or assigned power usagelimits for migrating a second copy of memory contents between the firstfar memory and the first near memory via the wired interconnect or thewireless interconnect, the dynamic threshold number also based on memorycontroller write latency to the first far memory maintained at thesecond device and memory controller read latency from the first nearmemory maintained at the first device.

According to some examples, the example second methods may also includereceiving an indication that the connection to the second device is tobe terminated, sending a second copy of memory contents from the firstnear memory to the first far memory to enable migration of at least aportion of the second copy of memory contents to the second near memory,and powering down the first circuitry and the first near memory to alower power state following the sending of the second copy of memorycontents to the first far memory.

In some examples for the example second methods, executing at least theportion of the one or more applications may include one of causing atleast a 4K resolution streaming video to be presented on a displaycoupled to the first device, causing at least a 4K resolution image orgraphic to be presented on a display coupled to the first device orcausing a touch screen to be presented on a display coupled to the firstdevice, the display having touch input capabilities.

In some examples, an example second at least one machine readable mediumcomprising a plurality of instructions that in response to beingexecuted on a first device having first circuitry may cause the firstdevice to detect an indication that a second device having secondcircuitry has connected to the first device. The first and the secondcircuitry may each be capable of executing one or more applicationsusing a two-level memory (2LM) architecture having a near memory and afar memory. The instructions may also cause the first device to receive,from a first far memory located at the second device, a copy of memorycontents from a second near memory located at the second device. Thememory contents may be for use by the second circuitry to execute theone or more applications. The instructions may also cause the firstdevice to store the copy of memory contents to a first near memorymaintained at the first device in a manner transparent to an operatingsystem for the first or the second device. The copy of memory contentsstored to the first near memory for use by the first circuitry toexecute the one or more applications.

According to some examples for the second at least one machine readablemedium, the first near memory may have a first memory capacity that islarger than a second memory capacity of the second near memory.

In some examples for the second at least one machine readable medium,the instructions may also cause the first device to receive a page missindication for the first near memory. The page miss may be associatedwith data maintained in the first far memory. The instructions may alsocause the first device to send a memory access request to the seconddevice to obtain the data maintained in the first far memory, receivethe data from the first far memory and cause the storing of the data inthe first near memory.

According to some examples for the second at least one machine readablemedium, detection of the indication that the second device has connectedmay be responsive to the first device coupling to a wired interface thatenables the first device to establish a wired communication channel toconnect with the second device via a wired interconnect or responsive tothe first device coming within a given physical proximity that enablesthe first device to establish a wireless communication channel toconnect with the second device via a wireless interconnect.

In some examples for the second at least one machine readable medium,the instructions may also cause the first device to send, from the firstnear memory, at least portions of memory content to the first far memorymaintained at the second device, the at least portions of memory contentincluding one or more dirty pages generated during execution of the oneor more applications by the first circuitry.

According to some examples for the second at least one machine readablemedium, the instruction may also cause the first device to send the atleast portions of memory content based on a write-back policy thatincludes one or more of a first or a second or threshold number of dirtypages maintained in the first near memory being exceeded or a thresholdtime via which dirty pages may be maintained in the first near memorybeing exceeded.

In some examples for the second at least one machine readable medium,the instruction may also cause the first device to send the at leastportions of memory content based on memory checkpointing that includes adynamic threshold number of dirty pages maintained in the first nearmemory being exceeded, the dynamic threshold number based on availabledata bandwidth, observed latencies, or assigned power usage limits formigrating a second copy of memory contents between the first far memoryand the first near memory via the wired interconnect or the wirelessinterconnect, the dynamic threshold number also based on memorycontroller write latency to the first far memory maintained at thesecond device and memory controller read latency from the first nearmemory maintained at the first device.

According to some examples for the second at least one machine readablemedium, the instructions may also cause the first device to receive anindication that the connection to the second device is to be terminated,send a second copy of memory contents from the first near memory to thefirst far memory to enable migration of at least a portion of the secondcopy of memory contents to the second near memory and power down thefirst circuitry and the first near memory to a lower power statefollowing the sending of the second copy of memory contents to the firstfar memory.

It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided tocomply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b), requiring an abstract that willallow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technicaldisclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not beused to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Inaddition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen thatvarious features are grouped together in a single example for thepurpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is notto be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed examplesrequire more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather,as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in lessthan all features of a single disclosed example. Thus the followingclaims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with eachclaim standing on its own as a separate example. In the appended claims,the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-Englishequivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein,”respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and soforth, are used merely as labels, and are not intended to imposenumerical requirements on their objects.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

1-27. (canceled)
 28. An apparatus comprising: first circuitry capable ofexecuting one or more applications using a two-level memory (2LM)architecture including a first near memory and a first far memory; adetect logic to detect second circuitry capable of executing the one ormore applications using the 2LM architecture that also includes a secondnear memory; a connect logic to cause a connection between the first farmemory and the second near memory; and a migration logic to utilize thefirst far memory to cause a copy of memory contents from the first nearmemory to migrate to the second near memory, the memory contentsmigrated in a manner transparent to an operating system.
 29. Theapparatus of claim 28, comprising the first circuitry, first near memoryand first far memory located at a first device and the second circuitryand second near memory located at a second device.
 30. The apparatus ofclaim 28, comprising the first near memory having a first memorycapacity that is smaller than a second memory capacity of the secondnear memory.
 31. The apparatus of claim 28, comprising: a power logic topower down the first circuitry and the first near memory to a lowerpower state following the migration of the copy of memory contents inthe first near memory to the second near memory and cause continuedpower to the first far memory.
 32. The apparatus of claim 31,comprising: the connect logic to receive an indication the connectionbetween the first far memory and the second near memory is to beterminated; the power logic to cause the first circuitry and the firstnear memory to power up the first circuitry and the first near memory toa higher power state; and the migration logic to receive a second copyof memory contents from the second near memory and cause the second copyof memory contents to be stored to the first far memory and at least aportion of the second copy of memory contents to be stored to the firstnear memory.
 33. The apparatus of claim 32, comprising the migrationlogic to cause the at least a portion of the second copy of memorycontents to be stored to the first near memory based on a memory pagingpolicy to store memory pages previously stored in the second near memoryand used by the one or more applications when executed by the secondcircuitry, the memory paging policy to include at least one of storingactively used memory pages, storing based on an age associated with thememory pages or storing based on an access pattern associated with thememory pages.
 34. The apparatus of claim 28, comprising: a request logicto receive a memory access request to the first far memory based on apage miss to the second near memory and cause the memory access requestto the first far memory to be fulfilled to provide data associated withthe page miss to the second near memory.
 35. The apparatus of claim 28,comprising: the migration logic to receive at least portions of memorycontent from the second near memory, the at least portions of memorycontent including one or more dirty pages generated during execution ofthe one or more applications by the second circuitry, the migrationlogic to cause the one or more dirty pages to be stored to the first farmemory.
 36. The apparatus of claim 35, comprising the migration logic toreceive the at least portions of memory content based on a write-backpolicy that includes one or more of a first or a second threshold numberof dirty pages maintained in the second near memory being exceeded or athreshold time via which dirty pages may be maintained in the secondnear memory being exceeded.
 37. The apparatus of claim 35, comprisingthe migration logic to receive the at least portions of memory contentbased on memory checkpointing that includes a dynamic threshold numberof dirty pages maintained in the second near memory being exceeded, thedynamic threshold number based on available data bandwidth, observedlatencies, or assigned power usage limits for migrating a second copy ofmemory contents between the first far memory and the second near memoryvia a wired interconnect or a wireless interconnect, the dynamicthreshold number also based on memory controller write latency to thefirst far memory and memory controller read latency from the second nearmemory.
 38. A method comprising: executing on first circuitry one ormore applications, the first circuitry capable of executing the one ormore applications using a two-level memory (2LM) architecture includinga first near memory and a first far memory; detecting a second circuitrycapable of executing the one or more applications using the 2LMarchitecture that also includes a second near memory; connecting thefirst far memory to the second near memory; utilizing the first farmemory to migrate a copy of memory contents from the first near memoryto the second near memory, the copy of memory contents migrated in amanner transparent to an operating system; powering down the firstcircuitry and the first near memory to a lower power state following themigration of the copy of memory contents in the first near memory to thesecond near memory; and continuing to power the first far memory. 39.The method of claim 38, comprising the first circuitry, first nearmemory and first far memory located at a first device and the secondcircuitry and second near memory located at a second device.
 40. Themethod of claim 39, comprising detecting the second device responsive tothe first device coupling to a wired interface that enables the firstdevice to establish a wired communication channel to connect with thesecond device via a wired interconnect or responsive to the first devicecoming within a given physical proximity that enables the first deviceto establish a wireless communication channel to connect with the seconddevice via a wireless interconnect.
 41. The method of claim 38,comprising: receiving, at the first far memory maintained, at leastportions of memory content from the second near memory, the at leastportions of memory content including one or more dirty pages generatedduring execution of the one or more applications by the secondcircuitry.
 42. The method of claim 41, comprising receiving the at leastportions of memory content based on a write-back policy that includesone or more of a first or a second threshold number of dirty pagesmaintained in the second near memory being exceeded or a threshold timevia which dirty pages may be maintained in the second near memory beingexceeded.
 43. The method of claim 42, the first threshold number basedon a memory capacity for the first near memory or respective databandwidth and latencies for migrating memory contents between the firstfar memory and the second near memory via a wired interconnect or awireless interconnect.
 44. The method of claim 42, comprising the secondthreshold number based on a data bandwidth capability for migratingmemory contents between the first far memory and the second near memoryvia a wired interconnect or a wireless interconnect, a time limitassociated with disconnecting from the wired or wireless interconnectand a size associated with the one or more dirty pages generated duringexecution of the one or more applications by the second circuitry. 45.The method of claim 41, comprising receiving the at least portions ofmemory content based on memory checkpointing that includes a dynamicthreshold number of dirty pages maintained in the second near memorybeing exceeded, the dynamic threshold number based on available databandwidth, observed latencies, or assigned power usage limits formigrating memory contents between the first far memory and the secondnear memory via a wired interconnect or a wireless interconnect, thedynamic threshold number also based on memory controller write latencyto the first far memory and memory controller read latency from thesecond near memory.
 46. An apparatus comprising: first circuitry capableof executing one or more applications using a two-level memory (2LM)architecture including a first near memory and a first far memory; adetect logic to detect an indication of a connection to a second nearmemory included in the 2LM architecture, the second near memory capableof being used by the one or more applications when executed by secondcircuitry; a copy logic to receive, from the first far memory, a copy ofmemory contents sent from the second near memory used by the secondcircuitry to execute the one or more applications, the copy logic tocause the copy to be stored in the first near memory in a mannertransparent to an operating system, the stored copy for use by the firstcircuitry to execute the one or more applications.
 47. The apparatus ofclaim 46, comprising: a request logic to receive a page miss indicationfor the first near memory, the page miss associated with data maintainedin the first far memory, the request logic to: send a memory accessrequest to the first far memory to obtain the data; receive the datafrom the first far memory; and cause the copying of the received data tothe first near memory.
 48. The apparatus of claim 46, comprising: awrite-back logic to send, from the first near memory, at least portionsof memory content to the first far memory, the at least portions ofmemory content including one or more dirty pages generated duringexecution of the one or more applications by the first circuitry, thewrite-back logic to send the at least portions of memory content basedon a write-back policy that includes one or more of a first or a secondthreshold number of dirty pages maintained in the first near memorybeing exceeded or a threshold time via which dirty pages may bemaintained in the first near memory being exceeded.
 49. The apparatus ofclaim 46, comprising: the detect logic to receive an indication that theconnection to the second near memory is to be terminated; a migrationlogic to send a second copy of memory contents from the first nearmemory to the first far memory to enable migration of at least a portionof the second copy of memory contents to the second near memory; and apower logic to power down the first circuitry and the first near memoryto a lower power state following the sending of the second copy ofmemory contents to the first far memory.
 50. At least one machinereadable medium comprising a plurality of instructions that in responseto being executed on a first device having first circuitry causes thefirst device to: detect an indication that a second device having secondcircuitry has connected to the first device, the first and the secondcircuitry each capable of executing one or more applications using atwo-level memory (2LM) architecture having a near memory and a farmemory; receive, from a first far memory located at the second device, acopy of memory contents from a second near memory located at the seconddevice, the memory contents for use by the second circuitry to executethe one or more applications; and store the copy of memory contents to afirst near memory located at the first device in a manner transparent toan operating system for the first or the second device, the copy ofmemory contents stored to the first near memory for use by the firstcircuitry to execute the one or more applications.
 51. The at least onemachine readable medium of claim 50, comprising the instructions to alsocause the first device to: receive a page miss indication for the firstnear memory, the page miss associated with data maintained in the firstfar memory; send a memory access request to the second device to obtainthe data maintained in the first far memory; receive the data from thefirst far memory; and cause the storing of the data in the first nearmemory.
 52. The at least one machine readable medium of claim 50,comprising the instructions to also cause the first device to: receivean indication that the connection to the second device is to beterminated; send a second copy of memory contents from the first nearmemory to the first far memory to enable migration of at least a portionof the second copy of memory contents to the second near memory; andpower down the first circuitry and the first near memory to a lowerpower state following the sending of the second copy of memory contentsto the first far memory.